NU Alumnus Organizes D3 Townhall
On Thursday, April 9, 2026, Neighborhood University and alumnus Dave Vaillencourt put his NU experiences to work as the moderator for a Council District 3 Town Hall, held at The Sluice, a community venue in Old Colorado City. Attendees were impressed by Vaillencourt’s leadership and presentation skills as he deftly conducted neighbor surveys, marketed this successful evening of fruitful discussion, and moderated the event smoothly and professionally.
Using his longtime work with the Organization of Westside Neighbors (OWN), where he publishes a monthly newsletter, Vaillencourt utilized his established listserve of nearly 400 Westside neighbors to distribute a Google survey asking for community questions and concerns. Additionally, he distributed flyers with a QR code to OCC businesses and advertised on Facebook and Nextdoor. He asked neighbors for their top three topics to discuss as well as where each issue was occurring and for general comments. Once he received several responses, Vaillencourt was able to shape his panel discussion questions around those issues. With the date and venue arranged, Dave then contacted various city officials to serve on a panel: District 3 Councilmember Brandy Williams, Richard Mulledy and Gayle Sturdivant with Public Works, Eric Becker and Kim King with the Parks Department, and Shannon Snuggs and Mary Rosenoff with Colorado Springs Police Department.
Dave stated, “Neighborhood University gave me valuable insight into the basics of city departments, allowing me to better mold the feedback from the surveys into moderating questions for the panel.” Likewise, he felt as if “those experts were more approachable” after hearing from such speakers during the Fall 2025 NU.
On the evening of the town hall, Vaillencourt welcomed 50-60 area residents eager to engage in bettering their district. A primary topic proved to be public safety, with problems involving unhoused persons as a top concern.
Now that Vaillencourt successfully completed this action, he feels more connected with our city. He’s looking forward to organizing a forum to kick off the Westside Homelessness Initiative in June and another community town hall in the fall, with a goal of at least two such events per year.
Dave will also put together a general planning checklist and timeline for all Neighborhood Leaders to facilitate more district-wide events throughout the city. If you are interested in keeping this momentum going in your neighborhood, please reach out to Hey Neighbor. The Community Coordinators are there to help you and can easily connect you with Dave for firsthand support.
